1. Jacquemus offers a playful take on luxury

La Bomba by Jacquemus. Directed by Gordon Von Steiner

Global – Fashion designer Simon Porte Jacquemus has partnered with director Gordon von Steiner on a new tongue-in-cheek short film entitled ‘La Bomba’, which launches Jacquemus’ spring 2018 collection. Set in a Spanish villa in Tenerife, the playful film features models, dancers and an acrobat kitted out in oversized sun hats and miniature handbags as they perform salsa moves and balancing tricks.

With its focus on evoking an atmosphere of frivolity rather than the collection perse, La Bomba injects new life into the tired tropes of luxury fashion, creating a campaign that appeals to the younger consumer in not taking itself too seriously. For more on the major shifts occurring within luxury see our sector focus.

2. Tuxe wants women to feel confident inside and out

Tuxe 360, US

Tuxe 360, US

Tuxe 360, US

US – Women's clothing brand Tuxe is launching an initiative, known as Tuxe 360, that offers free performance coaching sessions to customers after every purchase. The idea was born from founder and CEO Tamar Daniel’s own experience working with performance coach Ianna Raim. The program offers ten bespoke coaching sessions from Raim, delivered straight to customers’ inboxes.

The brand, which designs its garments using a special fabric that combats sweat, body odour, and wrinkles, hopes to build consumer confidence from both the outside and in. In our Female Futures horizontal we explore the role that brands have to play in championing and inspiring female consumers. For more on how brands can play an active role in the evolving fashion industry, download our Fashion Futures Report 2017 here.

3. Jellyfish crisps a healthier alternative to junk food

Denmark – In a bid to make jellyfish more palatable for Western tastes, a team of researchers in Denmark have devised a way of turning the sea creature into crisps.

Long considered a delicacy in Asia, where it is pickled for weeks in salt and potassium, the new method uses ethanol to create a crispy version that can be marketed as a healthier alternative to the traditional potato crisp.

The abundance of jellyfish in the oceans make them a sustainable future food source, while their low calorie and high nutrient content would make them more desirable to health conscious consumers.

In line with our New-found Nutrition trend in Educated Eating, the threat of a growing worldwide calorie deficit is encouraging people to search for new sources of nutrition, with the responsibility falling to brands to make them appealing to consumers.

Courtesy of Kristoff Styrbæk

4. 24-hour schools planned for Albania’s capital

Schools for Tirana by Stefano Boeri Architetti, Albania

Schools for Tirana by Stefano Boeri Architetti, Albania

Albania – Stefano Boeri Architetti has designed three new school complexes in Albania’s capital city, Tirana, that will remain open 24 hours a day, throughout the year. Catering to children of all ages, the buildings will house traditional classrooms during school hours but later in the day, at weekends and out of term time, these spaces will be transformed into community hubs, offering a space for locals of all ages to come together.

‘It must be an active place in all the hours of the day, every day of the year, for everyone, at all ages,’ says Stefano Boeri. ‘It welcomes book clubs and organizes courses to explore the most intriguing, bizarre and extreme depths of knowledge’. As explored in our Moonlighting Movements trend in Experience 2020, brands are increasingly opening up their real estate during dead time to offer initiatives that benefit the community at large.

5. Indie music fans driving growth in CD sales

While vinyls and tapes have long been the preserve of music enthusiasts, the CD has up until been overlooked as the favoured form of tangible music memorabilia. Figures from Bandcamp indicate, however, that the medium is growing in popularity as year-over-year sales grew by 18% in 2017, compared to 14% in 2016. With more consumers seeking out experiences like Listening Clubs to hear high quality music, brands will have to reconsider the comeback and potential of the humble CD.

6. Thought-starter: How boutique gyms are pushing workouts to the next level

As consumers continue to look for new ways to optimise their fitness routines, boutique gyms are introducing previously inaccessible technologies to help them reach their physical limits.

Consumers are becoming as concerned with the recovery phase of exercise as the workout element, encouraging gyms to implement a new range of services that change the way we cool down.

Cryotherapy has long been available as a medical treatment for various conditions, but fitness brands are beginning to look at its potential in the gym setting and are introducing it as an available service.

Boutique fitness gym KXU, for example, provides a cryotherapy chamber as part of its Recover services. In addition, it also has an infrared sauna room, which it claims is 15–20% more effective at eliminating toxins than traditional saunas, and can help with exercise recovery and muscle tension.